Wilbur Stuffed Snail Pattern

Sew up a fun snuggle toy for your grandkids with this utterly adorable stuffed snail from Christy Jones. Aimed at experienced beginners to intermediate sewists, this toy sewing pattern is made from soft fleece and starts off as a caterpillar who gets rolled up into a sweet little snail. Sew your snail in bright colors and finish it with an itty bitty antenna, rosy cheeks and cute smile.

Skill Level: Beginner to Intermediate

Time: 3 hours

Materials:

• 1/4 yard dark green fleece (58-inch wide)
• 1/4 yard light green fleece
• Scraps of black, white, and pink felt
• Dark green, black, white, and pink thread
• Stuffing
• Yardstick or dowel for pushing stuffing
• Plastic zip bag (quart size or larger)
• Fine-tipped permanent marker
• Turning tool, such as the blunt end of a pen, chopstick, or crochet hook
• PDF Patterns – These are located at the bottom of this page. Please see printing instructions below.

PRINTING INSTRUCTIONS:

Note: To download the patterns, click on the pattern download button at the bottom of the page. We recommend opening your pattern download using Adobe Acrobat.

Instructions:

PREPARE THE PATTERNS:

Print out your pattern pages before beginning this project.

1. Cut out the snail head, antenna, eye, eye highlight, smile, and cheek patterns, as well as the tab pattern, and set them aside.
2. Cut out all five body section patterns and line them up in order.
   
3. Overlap the short right end of Body Section 1 with the gray area on Body Section 2, then tape them together. Do the same with Section 2 and Section 3, then Section 3 and Section 4, then Section 4 and Section 5, so that all the patterns are joined together in a long rectangle. The finished pattern should have tab placement guidelines A-N on the upper edge, and tab placement guidelines C-N on the lower edge.
   

CUT OUT THE SNAIL BODY AND TABS:

1. Use the assembled snail body pattern to cut out 2 long rectangles from dark green fleece.
2. Use the tab pattern to cut 28 small rectangles from the leftover dark green fleece. Make sure the stretchiest direction of the fleece runs the short width of the tab and not the long height. (If the tabs have too much vertical stretch, they will not tie as snugly.)
   
   

ATTACH THE TABS:

1. Place the pattern on the right side of one of the dark green rectangles, lining it up on the short ends, but about 1/2 below the top edge.
   
2. Position a fabric tab in line with each dotted rectangle on the pattern, so the top edge of the tabs line up with the top edge of the fabric. Pin each tab in place (without pinning through the pattern), then remove the pattern.
   
   
3. Baste along the upper edge of the fabric using 1/4-inch seam allowance, attaching the tabs to the upper edge of the fabric.
   
4. Repeat Steps 1-3 for the lower tabs.
   
5. Fold the upper and lower tabs out of the way, then repeat Steps 1-3 for the side tabs.
   

MAKE THE SNAIL FACE TEMPLATE:

1. Cut off and discard the top of the plastic zip bag, then slit open the sides of the bag and unfold it, so you have a flat piece of plastic.
   
2. Place the sheet of plastic on top of the snail head pattern, then use a permanent marker to trace the placement guides for the eye, cheek, smile, and antenna onto the plastic. This creates a template for positioning the snail’s facial features.
   
   

SEW THE SNAIL HEAD:

1. Cut 1 snail head, then flip the pattern over and cut 1 more snail head, so the two heads face opposite directions.
2. Cut 2 eyes from black felt, and 2 eye highlights from white felt. Position the white highlights on the black eyes, with one on the upper left and the other on the upper right, so that the eyes face each other. Whipstitch the highlights to the black felt using white thread.
   
3. Cut 2 cheeks from pink felt. Cut 2 smiles from black felt.
4. Position an eye, cheek, and smile on one of the snail heads in approximately the right places, then place the plastic template on top. Adjust the pieces as needed until they line up with the template.
   
5. Remove the template and pin the face pieces in place. Whipstitch the eyes and smiles to the heads using black thread, and whipstitch the cheeks in place using pink thread.
   
6. Flip the template over and position an eye, cheek, and smile on the other head. Whipstitch these pieces to the head the same way.
   
7. Cut 2 snail antennae and pin them right sides together. Using scant seam allowance, stitch along the sides and top of the antennae, leaving the lower edge open.
   
8. Turn the antenna right side out. Use a pencil, chopstick, or the blunt end of a pen or crochet hook to help gently push the fabric.
   
9. Position the antenna upside down on one of the snail heads (it doesn’t matter which one) using the plastic template as a guideline. The open end of the antenna should face the top of the snail head.
   
10. Baste the end of the antenna to the top of the snail head using a few whipstitches.
    
11. Place one head on the short end of each body piece, right sides together.
    
12. Pin the straight end of each head to the end of the body piece, making sure any tabs are out of the way so they don’t get caught in the seam. Stitch each head to the body using 3/8-inch seam allowance.
    
    
13. Turn each head right side up.
    
    
    

SEW THE SNAIL TOGETHER:

1. Place the snail body with the tabs and the one without the tabs right sides together. Make sure that all the tabs (and the antenna) are tucked inside the body.
   
2. Using 1/2-inch seam allowance, stitch along the top edge of the body, around the snail head, and along the lower edge of the body. Leave the short, straight end of the snail body open.
   
3. Clip small slits in the curved seam allowance of the snail head, being careful not to cut through the seam. This will help the snail head turn fully right side out.
   
4. Turn the snail right side out.
   
5. Push a handful of stuffing into the open end of the snail. Use a long tool, such as a yardstick or dowel, to gently push the stuffing inside all the way to the head, scrunching up the snail body as needed.
   
   
   
6. When the snail is completely stuffed, turn the open ends toward the inside and whipstitch shut using dark green thread. Make sure the end tabs are still hanging out.
   

TIE THE TABS:

1. Grasp the top tab on the short end of the snail body and left-most tab on the upper edge of the snail body (both marked “A” on the tab placement pattern).
   
2. Tie the A tabs together snugly, then tie them a second time, creating a sturdy double-knot.
   
3. Grasp the lower tab on the short end of the snail body, and the second left-most tab on the upper edge of the snail body (both marked “B” on the tab placement pattern).
   
4. Tie the B tabs together snugly, then tie them a second time, creating a sturdy double-knot.
   
5. Continue to roll the snail body into a spiral, matching up the tabs and tying each pair together with a double-knot.
   
   
6. When all the tabs are aligned and securely tied, carefully trim off the ends of the tabs, close to the knots. You may need to flip the snail over and push the spiral outward to access the tabs on the back side.
   
   
   
7. Push the spiral so that it lies flat, and the snail soft toy is finished!